Softwr

Cybersecurity · head to head

Fortinet FortiGate vs GitHub Copilot

Fortinet FortiGate logo

Fortinet FortiGate

Cybersecurity

Next-generation firewall with AI-powered threat protection

From
$500/year
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
GitHub Copilot logo

GitHub Copilot

Developer Tools

AI pair programmer for developers

From
$10/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Fortinet FortiGate security services are sold as separate FortiGuard subscription bundles, so ATP, UTP and ENT determine which protections are actually active; GitHub Copilot agent mode lacks deep tool orchestration and iterative execution compared to specialized agentic tools
  • They diverge on capability: Fortinet FortiGate covers Next-generation firewall, GitHub Copilot covers Code completion.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fortinet FortiGate and GitHub Copilot actually diverge.

Attributes where Fortinet FortiGate and GitHub Copilot differ
AttributeFortinet FortiGateGitHub Copilot
Starting price$500/year$10/month
PlatformsHardware, Virtual, CloudWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools
Founded20002008

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Fortinet FortiGate

  • Next-generation firewall
  • Intrusion prevention
  • SSL/TLS inspection
  • Application control
  • Web filtering
  • SD-WAN
  • Zero-trust network access
  • AI-powered threat detection

Only in GitHub Copilot

  • Code completion
  • Code generation
  • Chat interface
  • Multi-language support
  • VS Code
  • JetBrains IDEs
  • Neovim
  • Visual Studio

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Fortinet FortiGate

  • Next-generation firewalling at data centre, campus and branch scalenot GitHub Copilot
  • Secure SD-WAN across distributed sitesnot GitHub Copilot
  • Zero trust network access to internal applicationsnot GitHub Copilot
  • Virtual firewalls in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and Oraclenot GitHub Copilot
  • Ruggedised deployments in industrial environmentsnot GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot

  • ai tools managementnot Fortinet FortiGate
  • Workflow automationnot Fortinet FortiGate
  • Reportingnot Fortinet FortiGate

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Fortinet FortiGate

  • Security services are sold as separate FortiGuard subscription bundles, so ATP, UTP and ENT determine which protections are actually active
  • Throughput is tied to the appliance model, from 500 Mbps on the FortiGate 30G to 520 Gbps on the 7121F, so capacity planning is a hardware purchase
  • Pricing is not published and goes through partners

GitHub Copilot

  • Agent mode lacks deep tool orchestration and iterative execution compared to specialized agentic tools
  • Suggestions for niche or specialized programming languages are less accurate due to limited training data
  • Less effective with non-English prompts or grammatically incorrect developer instructions
  • Free tier severely limited to 2,000 completions and 50 chat requests per month

Pricing, plan by plan

Fortinet FortiGate

$500/year
  • FortiGate Entry$500/year
    • Basic firewall
    • VPN support
    • Threat protection
  • FortiGate Enterprise$2500/year
    • Advanced threat protection
    • SSL inspection
    • Application control
  • FortiGate Ultimate$10000/year
    • All Enterprise features
    • Zero-trust access
    • AI-powered analytics

GitHub Copilot

$10/month
  • Individual$10/month
    • Code completions
    • Chat in IDE
    • CLI assistance
  • Business$19/month
    • Organization management
    • Policy controls
    • Audit logs

Which should you pick?

Choose Fortinet FortiGate if

  • You need next-generation firewall.
  • You work on Hardware, Virtual, Cloud.
  • You also want intrusion prevention.
Fortinet FortiGate review

Choose GitHub Copilot if

  • You need code completion.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want code generation.
GitHub Copilot review

Questions people ask

Is Fortinet FortiGate or GitHub Copilot better?
Neither clearly leads. Fortinet FortiGate starts at $500/year and GitHub Copilot at $10/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fortinet FortiGate or GitHub Copilot?
Fortinet FortiGate starts at $500/year and GitHub Copilot at $10/month.
Does Fortinet FortiGate or GitHub Copilot run on more platforms?
Fortinet FortiGate runs on Hardware, Virtual, Cloud. GitHub Copilot runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
What is Fortinet FortiGate best used for?
Fortinet FortiGate is most often used for next-generation firewalling at data centre, campus and branch scale, secure sd-wan across distributed sites, zero trust network access to internal applications, virtual firewalls in aws, azure, google cloud and oracle. Of those, next-generation firewalling at data centre, campus and branch scale and secure sd-wan across distributed sites are not what GitHub Copilot is typically brought in for.
What can Fortinet FortiGate do that GitHub Copilot cannot?
Fortinet FortiGate covers Next-generation firewall, Intrusion prevention, SSL/TLS inspection, Application control. GitHub Copilot covers Code completion, Code generation, Chat interface, Multi-language support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fortinet FortiGate: What are the FortiGate security bundle options?

Fortinet offers three FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services bundles: ENT Bundle (ultimate security for networks, web, file, SaaS, data, and devices), UTP Bundle (advanced web and network protection), and ATP Bundle (protection against network intrusions and malware with IPS, antivirus, and application control).

Source
GitHub Copilot: Does GitHub Copilot have a free tier?

Yes. GitHub Copilot Free offers 2,000 code completions and 50 chat requests per month at no cost with no credit card required. Students and open-source maintainers get free Pro access.

Source
Fortinet FortiGate: How do I get pricing for FortiGate?

Pricing is not published on the product page. To obtain a quote, you can request a free product demo or connect with a security expert through the contact options on the site.

Source
GitHub Copilot: What IDEs and editors are supported?

GitHub Copilot works in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm), Vim, Neovim, and Azure Data Studio with extensions providing code suggestions and chat capabilities.

Source
Fortinet FortiGate: Is there a free trial for FortiGate?

The product page does not mention a free trial. However, Fortinet offers a free product demo that allows you to evaluate the solution before committing to a purchase.

Source
GitHub Copilot: What programming languages does Copilot support?

Copilot supports more than 10 core languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, C#, Go, and Rust. Performance is strongest for these popular languages with extensive open-source training data.

Source
GitHub Copilot: How does the free tier compare to paid plans?

Free tier limits completions and chat to 2,000 and 50 per month. Pro ($10/month) offers unlimited completions, while Pro+ ($39/month) adds access to frontier AI models and agent mode for autonomous multi-file edits.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Fortinet FortiGate

More on GitHub Copilot

Keep looking

Other head to heads